MNI Alive Media
Monday, May 1, 2017
British Airways on Wednesday, January 4th, 2016 began flying direct flights between London and Santiago de Chile. The airline is using the Boeing 787 Dreamliner with a capacity of 216 passengers for this route.
Flights will take off weekly from London's Heathrow Airport.
Chilean Public Works minister Alberto Undurraga stated: “This is more than another flight it is clear proof of confidence in Chile, in the public-private alliance of our government and in Chile, as a reliable commercial and tourist destination.”
This new service ads London as the fourth European city servicing Chile. The other destinations include Paris, Milan and Madrid.
Javiera Montes, the Tourism Under Secretary for Chile stated; “Last year 46.000 British tourists arrived in Chile and with the new direct link we expect that number to increase by 19%, including passengers from Europe, which is strategic for Chile.”
Chile's Santiago airport last year received 19 million passengers.
An investment of US$ 700 million is expected to be put into the airport with the view towards improving the airport's infrastructure and increasing capacity to 30 million passengers by 2020.
